Junior Sox bounce back from first loss, rally for 7-5 win
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BAUXITE — On the verge of suffering a second consecutive loss on the same day, the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning then held on to forge a 7-5 victory over Little Rock Continental Express in pool play at the Benton Tournament held at Bauxite High School on Saturday.
With Sunday’s games washed out by rain, the Sox were unable to play their third pool game to earn a shot at the championship round of the event. The Sox will return to action on Sunday, May 31, with a doubleheader rematch with Continental Express.
A two-out error opened the door for the Bryant rally. Landon Pickett and Evan Jobe had drawn walks to start the frame but two outs later, they had only advanced to second and third. After fouling off a 2-2 pitch to stay alive, Reese O’Rourke put the ball in play. The fly to right was mishandled and both runs scored to give the Sox a 4-3 lead.
Chris Joiner, who was 3-for-3 in the game, cracked a single to left to keep the inning going then Lucas Castleberry drove in a run with a single. And when the ball was misplayed in center, the Sox again had runners at second and third. Caleb Milam followed with a bouncer that got past the Continental third baseman and both Joiner and Castleberry scored to put the Sox in front 7-3.[more]
Blake Davidson came on to relieve starter Jacob Clark in the bottom of the sixth and issued a pair of walks before getting the first out on strikes. After a passed ball moved runners to second and third. An error allowed one run to score then another scored on a fielder’s choice.
Davidson surrendered a single but got out of the inning by inducing a pop to Pickett at first.
In the seventh, Davidson issued a one-out walk but then struck out the next two to nail down the victory.
Both teams had scored in the first. For the Sox, Joiner walked, took second on a single by Milam, third when Dylan Pritchett grounded into a force at second and scored on a two-out single by Pickett.
Pritchett, who had stolen second, tried to score on the play but was caught in a rundown before being tagged out to end the frame.
In turn, Continental stringed together a trio of one-out singles and a sacrifice fly to tie it.
Bryant regained the advantage in the top of the third. With two down, Castleberry beat out an infield hit and sprinted all the way home on a double down the left-field line by Milam.
Clark had worked around a single and a walk in the second but, in the bottom the third, a pair of infield hits and a single up the middle had the bases loaded with no one out. An error allowed the tying run to score then a single put Continental ahead. Clark kept it to that, however, with a strikeout and a 1-2-3 doubleplay.
The right-hander worked around a one-out error in the fourth then a hit batsman and a single with two down in the fifth to keep the Sox close before the game-turning sixth.
